Drum gripper

ABSTRACT

A grip to be applied to the chime of a drum for the latter to be hoisted in upright position is provided with means which automatically locks the two arms of the grip in a pre-determined angular position.

United States Patent Arbouw Feb. 26, 1974 DRUM GRIPPER [76] Inventor: Johannes Arbouw,Marnixstraat 32-34, Rotterdam, Netherlands [22] Filed: Oct. 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 295,447

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 8, l97l Netherlands 7113835 [52] U.S. Cl. 294/90, 294/104 [51] Int. Cl. B66c 1/66 [58] Field of Search.. 294/15, 86 R, 90, 91, 92, 104

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,333,883 8/1967 Kikuchi 294/90 6/l965 Bopp 294/90 5/l967 Gresshach 294/!04 X Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant ExaminerJohnny D. Cherry Attorney, Agent, or FirmJames G. OBoyle; Gardner J. OBoyle [57] ABSTRACT A grip to be applied to the chime of a drum for the latter to be hoisted in upright position is provided with means which automatically locks the two arms of the grip in a pre-determined angular position.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DRUM GRIPPER The invention relates to a hoisting gripper for lifting a chimed drum in an upright position, the gripper being adapted to engage an upper chime of the drum and being provided with an upper arm with gripping jaw and a lower arm with gripping jaw, the two arms being pivotally interconnected and the lower arm, at its one end, carrying the upper gripping jaw and forming, at its other end, a supporting face which is adapted to rest against the side wall of a drum to be hoisted, with the upper arm, at its one end, carrying the other jaw end being provided, at a specific distance in the direction of its other end, with a point of application for a hoisting member.

Through the interaction of the hoisting force spaced from the pivot and the supporting face at the lower end of the lower gripping arm, the pivotally interconnected arms will perform a link motion during hoisting, resulting in the grippingof a drum chime by the gripping jaws. As long as no hoisting force is exerted, there is the danger that, when the upper jaw rests on a drum, the gripper halves occupy an open position.

The objective of the invention is a hoisting gripper of the above mentioned type lacking said drawback.

To this effect such a hoisting gripper is provided with an automatic locking devicefor locking the two arms in the gripping position. Said locking device may comprise a locking catch pivotally connected to the upper arm, and which is forced to the locking position by a pre-compression gear, in such a way that, as soon as a drumis hoisted, the gripper will automatically arrive in the locked position. The catch may be provided with a grip for'unlockin'g. v

For adapting drums having different diameters, the upper arm may comprise a plurality of selectively usable points of application for the hoisting member, so

that said hoisting member can always engage substan tially above the centre of gravity of the drum. Also, the supporting face and the gripping jaw of the lower arm and/or the jaw of the upper arm can have a configuration corresponding with the shape of the drum in such a way that in the gripping position the upper arm will automatically occupy a substantially radial position relative to the drum to be hoisted.

For elucidating the invention, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows in continuous lines a view in side elevation of a hoisting gripper according to the invention resting in unloaded position on a drum;

FIG. 2 is a top view according toFIG. l. A hoisting gripper generally indicated by (l) is shown in side elevation, resting on a drum 2, of which only a minor portion is schematically indicated. Said drum is provided customarily with an upper chime 3. The hoisting gripper comprises an upper arm 4 formed of two elongated plate portions and an under arm 5 formed of one elongated plate portion. The two arms are pivotally interconnected'at 6 through a boltnut connection 7. The upper arm in the rest position shown comprises a substantially horizontally extending arm portion wherein two points of application 8 for a hoisting member are shown. Naturally, more points of application can be applied, if need be. The left-hand end of the upper arm comprises a downwardly directed end part 9 whereon is disposed a lower gripping jaw 10, in-

- terconnecting the two plate portions.

The lower gripping arm 5 is provided, at its lower end, with a supporting face 11 and, at its upper end, with a rightwardly directed end part 12 with upper gripping jaw 13. At 14 is pivotally mounted a locking catch or lower 15 between the two parts of the upper arm 4. The catch is forced by a tension spring 16 to a locking position, the end face 17 of the catch resting against a corresponding face 18 at the upper end part of the lower arm. There is disposed an unlocking lever 19 at the other side of the pivot 14 relative to the catch 15. Said tension spring not only acts as a means for moving the catch into its active position but also as a means for accommodating deviations of the chime.

The' lower and the upper gripping arm of approximately equal length and are slightly over half the diameter of the largest drum to be hoisted for which the hoisting gripper is designed. A hoisting member will be connected to one of the points of application 8, through which the hoisting gripper can be lifted. In view of the simple construction, the weight of the gripper is so slight as a matter of fact that it can be easily handled manually by one man. During the hoisting the lower arm 5 will be substantially vertical underneath the pivot 6, whereby the gripper is lowered onto a drum, the upper vjaw 13 coming to rest at some place behind the chime 3 on the cover of the drum. The stop 11 will come to rest against the drum wall. The upper arm 4 will thenoccupy a position as shown in FIG. 1, the lower jaw 10 being'sufficiently free from the drum wall. During hoisting the upper jaw will gradually occupy a more inclined position, the lower jaw 10 coming against the drum wall. During the continued hoisting, the upper jaw 13, insofar not the case yet, will move outwardly until it comes to rest against the inner side of the drum chime 3, the supporting face 11 continuing to lie against the drum wall. Finally, a position will be attained as partly shown in FIG. 1 by broken lines. The locking catch 15, under influence of spring 16, will spring with its locking face 17 behind the corresponding face 18 of the lower gripping arm. During paying off the lifting membenthe upper arm will then no longer be capable of being lowered, the gripping position being locked. Through a formof the lower supporting face 11 corresponding with the form of the drum and the drum chime and the two gripping jaws l0 and 13, the upper gripping arm, when approaching the gripping position if this was not yet the case originally, will occupy a substantially radial position relative to the drum. By using the corresponding hoisting point'8, the hoisting member can engage exactly above the centre of the drum, enabling it to be hoisted-in vertical position.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A chimed-drum gripper for holding the drum in an upright position while being hoisted comprising, a first arm means extending substantially radially of the upper end of the drum, second arm means extending substantially vertically with respect to the side wall of the drum, means pivotally connecting said first and second arm means to each other, a first gripping jaw formed on one end of the first arm means adapted to engage one side of the chime on the upper end of the drum, a second gripping jaw formed on one end of the second arm means adapted to engage the opposite side of said chime, a supporting face formed on the opposite end of the second arm means adapted to rest against the side wall of the drum, hoist engaging means formed on the opposite end portion of the first arm means, and locking means operatively connected between said first and second arm means for locking the gripping jaws in the gripping position against the drum chime, said locking means including a lever pivotally connected to said first arm means, one end of said lever engaging a portion of said second arm means adjacent said second gripping jaw, spring means biasing said one end of said lever against said portion of said second arm means, whereby upon hoisting of the drum the first and second arm means pivot relative to each other to move the gripping jaws into the gripped position against the drum chime and the spring biased lever of the locking means is actuated during the pivotal movement of the arm means to a position against the second arm means to hold jaws in the gripped position.

2. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the opposite end of the lever is provided with a hand grip, whereby the latch may be manually pivoted to the unlocked position.

3. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the hoist engaging means forms a plurality of selectively useable points of application for the hoisting members, whereby the drum to be hoisted may be lifted substantially above its center of gravity.

4. A gripper according to claim 3 wherein the hoist engaging means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures formed in the first arm means.

5. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the gripping jaws and supporting face are configured to correspond to the arcuate form of the drum. 

1. A chimed-drum gripper for holding the drum in an upright position while being hoisted comprising, a first arm means extending substantially radially of the upper end of the drum, second arm means extending substantially vertically with respect to the side wall of the drum, means pivotally connecting said first and second arm means to each other, a first gripping jaw formed on one end of the first arm means adapted to engage one side of the chime on the upper end of the drum, a second gripping jaw formed on one end of the second arm means adapted to engage the opposite side of said chime, a supporting face formed on the opposite end of the second arm means adapted to rest against the side wall of the drum, hoist engaging means formed on the opposite end portion of the first arm means, and locking means operatively connected between said first and second arm means for locking the gripping jaws in the gripping position against the drum chime, said locking means including a lever pivotally connected to said first arm means, one end of said lever engaging a portion of said second arm means adjacent said second gripping jaw, spring means biasing said one end of said lever against said portion of said second arm means, whereby upon hoisting of the drum the first and second arm means pivot relative to each other to move the gripping jaws into the gripped position against the drum chime and the spring biased lever of the locking means is actuated during the pivotal movement of the arm means to a position against the second arm means to hold jaws in the gripped position.
 2. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the opposite end of the lever is provided with a hand grip, whereby the latch may be manually pivoted to the unlocked position.
 3. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the hoist engaging means forms a plurality of selectively useable points of application for the hoisting members, whereby the drum to be hoisted may be lifted substantially above its center of gravity.
 4. A gripper according to claim 3 wherein the hoist engaging means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures formed in the first arm means.
 5. A gripper according to claim 1 wherein the gripping jaws and supporting face are configured to correspond to the arcuate form of the drum. 